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In 1912 , Polish - American biochemist Casimir Funk discovered that several disease , such asscurvyandrickets , were triggered by a lack of specific component of food for thought in the dieting . He nickname these crucial components " vitamine . "
This uncovering , along with subsequent research over the next five decades — include contribution to140 proficient papers , as well as 30 reviews and articles — cemented Funk ’s legacy as the " begetter of the vitamin " and introduce the conception of vitamins being indispensable for human wellness .
Casimir Funk’s discovery of vitamins as essential nutrients for life and subsequent research, including on hormones, has had a lasting impact on human health.
His work led to the find of 13 vitamin within the space of 35 years , including all the vitamins we know today , which went on to save countless lives and left a hold up print in the field of biochemistry and nutrition .
Today ( Feb. 23 ) to mark off what would have been his140th natal day , Funk has been honored by Google in their doodle of the 24-hour interval .
So who was Casimir Funk ? And how did he discover vitamins ?
Funk’s contributions to the fields of biochemistry and nutrition span more than five decades.
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Kazimierz " Casimir " Funk was accept in 1884 in Warsaw , Poland . Theson of a Polish physician , Funk ’s family had ambitions for him to also become a doctor , but instead Funk pursue a doctorate of alchemy at theUniversity of Bernein Switzerland in 1904 . From there , he went on to work as a biochemist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris , and then in Berlin and London .
In 1912 , he discovered that four disease — beriberi , a disease that can affect thecirculatoryandnervous systems ; scurvy , which do theteeth and gums to rot;pellagra , which leads to complications such asdermatitis;andrickets , a off-white disease — were all make by a lack of aspiration of sure nutrients .
Funk draw these nutrients as types of " vitamine , " which comes from " vita , " mean life in Latin , and " aminoalkane , " a class ofnitrogen - containing chemical compound .
In a 1912 paper draw his findings , he wrote : " We will speak of beriberi and scurvy vitamine , which means a substance preventing that special disease . "
The concept that diseases could be due to a lack of essential nutrient , rather than by infection or due to toxins , was revolutionary , particularly at a prison term when thegerm hypothesis of disease was dominant , which revealed that certain malady are caused byspecific disease - make microorganisms . Instead , Funk suggest that sealed vitamins needed to be consumed as part of a person ’s diet , and that onlya very lowly amountcould prevent and address specific diseases . The same year , he write a report titled " The Etiology of the Deficiency Diseases " inThe Journal of State Medicine , and in 1914wrote a bookcalled " Die Vitamine " on the discipline .
Over the next few years — and against the backdrop of both world warfare — Casimir Funk move between Europe and the U.S. As time lead by , other researchers found that Funk ’s initial theories were n’t just correct . Not all vitamins are amine : For example , vitamin Dis synthesise in reply to ultraviolet light exposure of the skin and is really a sex hormone internal secretion . This is why the " einsteinium " in the name " vitamine " was cut down to make the term " vitamin " we know today . Vitamins also do n’t always just bear upon one disease , as Funk in the first place propose . Deficiency invitamin D , for example , is associated with manychronic diseases , such as os metabolic disorders , heart diseaseanddiabetes .
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Later in life , Funk analyze brute hormones , as well as the alchemy of diseases such as Crab and diabetes . He alsodevised salutary waysof commercializing the production of drugs .
blue funk die in New York in 1967 .
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